EU offers lifeline to Italian textile workers
16/12/2008
The European Commission has granted €35.16 million from a special fund to support laid-off Italian textile workers. This represents the largest sum granted by the fund, the European Union’s Globalisation Fund (EGF), since its creation in early 2007.
The aid will be allocated to four regions, namely Sardinia, Piedmont, Lombardy and Tuscany, where a total of almost 6,000 workers have lost their jobs because of production shifting towards lower-cost economies.
The payments, approved by the budgetary authorities of the European Parliament and the Council on 19 November after the European Commission had given prior consent, will support the redundant workers as they seek other employment by funding job search assistance, providing allowances and establishing training programmes. At the same time, the money is aimed at creating incentives for companies to hire those made redundant.
The Commission stressed that the EGF was only intended to complement active labour market measures taken by employers and national authorities. It does not finance passive social protection measures, such as pensions or unemployment benefits.
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